EARLY DAYS 

OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN BRANCH 

OF THE 

Soly Ciitliolio Cliureli, 

IN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA, 
BY 

edwaho i ). x;i-:i i;i 

DELIVERED, IN SUBSTANCE, BEFORE THE 
SYNOD OF* MINNESOTA, IN 

SEPTEMBER 26, 1873. 



MINNEAPOLIS: 
JOHNSON & SMITH, STEAM PRINTERS. 
1873. 

, . 



EARLY DAYS 

OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN BRANCH 



OF THE 

Soly Catliolic CVf 

IN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA, 

BY 

J 

EDWAED I). NEILL, 

DELIVERED, IN SUBSTANCE, BEFORE THE 
SYNOD OF MINNESOTA, IN 

SEPTEMBER 26, 1873. 




LC Control Number 



1 



tmp96 031038 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



"Appoint John Knox Bishop of Rochester ; he will prove a 
whetstone to the Archbishop of Canterbury," was the mes- 
sage to Cecil from the Duke of Northumberland. If the ap- 
pointment had been made, there might have been no room for 
the work which the Presbyterian Church has performed during 
the last three centuries. 

Upon many points Knox and Archbishop Cranmer were in 
harmony. In accordance with the suggestion of Calvin, the 
English Church published a summary of Christian doctrine, 
and had expressed the teachings of the Apostle Paul in the 
seventeenth of the " Thirty-Nine Articles," which was fully 
accepted by the Scotch Reformer. 

Nor did they differ in relation to the orders of the ministry. 
The latter, notwithstanding his position, explicitly declared, 
that there were but two orders, and that the ordination of the 
Swiss and French Churches was as valid as that of the Church 
of England, for it was not until the reigns of the vacillating 
Stuarts, that the Church of England assumed the intolerable 
position, that the ordination of a priest of Rome was valid, 
while that of a Presbyterian minister was invalid. 

But notwithstanding this general agreement, Knox could 
not feel that his mission was in that Church. He believed 
that it was the design of the English Court to fetter the Church 
and not to permit it to have "free course" in the work of res- 
toration to primitive purity. He did not oppose, but approved 



IV 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



of a liturgy, yet he was pained by the retaining of Saints' 
days in Edward the Sixth's Book of Prayer, and also by the 
forcing upon the conscience things, that could not be clearly 
deduced from the precept and practice of Christ and the 
Apostles. He moreover thought that the source of civil power 
was in the people, and they had the right to depose wicked 
and treacherous rulers. While admitting that the Church of 
England had broken away from the stall of popery, he declared 
that the halter was still around her neck, and he sought Scot- 
land, his native land, as a more acceptable field of labor than 
the See of Rochester. By the earnest, thorough work there 
performed, room was made in the world, for that branch of the 
Catholic Church, which is in part represented by the Synod of 
Minnesota. 

From the first, the Presbyterian has been a missionary church. 
The first General Assembly of 1560 was composed of only 
twelve ministers, five of whom were without a local charge, 
and moved through the land, preaching the gospel to the poor, 
planting churches, and appointing lay readers. 

Since that time its strength has been in earnest preaching of 
Christ, and in carrying the truth to those who will not send for 
preachers. It is eminently fitting that we should take a retro- 
spect of Presbyterianism in the Valley of the Upper Missis- 
sippi, from the Falls of St. Anthony, now in the centre of the 
City of Minneapolis, for in this vicinity was the gospel first 
preached to the wild Dakotah, as well as to the civilized white 
man of Minnesota, by members of the Presbyterian branch of 
the Church. 

During the days of the French dominion in the Mississippi 
Valley, sincere and earnest Franciscans and Jesuits of the 
Church of Rome visited this region, and endeavored to con- 
vert the savages to Christianity. Their advent, heralded by 
the sympathizing Canadian voyageurs, at first made a deep im- 
pression. But the children of the wilderness soon grew weary 



VISIT OF REV. ALVAN COE. 



Y 



of the pictures and bells, and swinging censers of the "black 
gowns." Shea, in his interesting and highly colored history of 
the Roman Catholic missions among the Indians, remarks that 
"Father Menard had projected a Sioux mission ; Marquette, 
Allonez, Dreuilletes, all entertained hopes of realizing it, and 
had some intercourse with that nation, but none of them ever 
succeeded in establishing a mission." 

About a century after Father Guignas left the French fort 
"Beauharnois," nearly opposite Maiden's Rock, on the shores 
of Lake Pepin, another effort was made under a simpler and 
more primitive form of Christianity, to evangelize the tribes in 
the region of the great lakes and the Upper Mississippi River. 

In the month of June, 1820, the Rev. Dr. Morse, father of 
the distinguished inventor of the telegraph, visited and preached 
at Mackinaw, and in consequence of statements published by 
him, upon his return, a Presbyterian Missionary Society in the 
State of New York sent a graduate of Union College, the 
Rev. W. M. Ferry, father of the present United States Sena- 
tor from Michigan, to explore the field. In 1823 he had es- 
tablished a large boarding school composed of children of va- 
rious tribes, and here some were educated who became wives 
of men of intelligence and influence at the capital of Minne- 
sota. After a few years, it was determined by the Mission 
Board to modify its plans, and in the place of a great central 
station, to send missionaries among the several tribes to teach 
and to preach. 

In pursuance of this policy, the Rev. Alvan Coe, and J. D. 
Stevens, then a licentiate, made a tour of exploration, and ar- 
rived on September 1, 1829, at Fort Snelling. In the journal 
of Major Lawrence Taliaferro, which is in possession of the 
Minnesota Historical Society, I find the following entry : "The 
Rev. Mr. Coe and Stevens reported to be on their way to this 
post, members of the Presbyterian Church looking out for 
suitable places to make missionary establishments for the Sioux 



VI 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



and Chippeways, found schools, and instruct in the arts and 
agriculture." 

The Agent, although not at that time a communicant of the 
Church, welcomed these visitors, and afforded them every 
facility in visiting the Indians. On Sunday, the 6th of Sep- 
tember, the Rev. Mr. Coe preached twice in the Fort, and the 
next night held a prayer-meeting at the quarters of the com- 
manding officer. On the next Sunday he preached again, and 
on the 14th, with Mr. Stevens and a hired guide, returned to 
Mackinaw by way of the St. Croix river. During this visit the 
Agent offered for a Presbyterian mission the mill which then 
stood on the site of Minneapolis, and had been erected by the 
soldiers, as well as a farm at Lake Calhoun, which had been 
established for the benefit of the Dakotahs. 

On the 8th of September he addressed the following letter 
to the Rev. Joshua T. Russell, Secretary of the Board of Mis- 
sions of Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pa.: 

" Rev. Sir: It having been represented to me by the Rev. 
Alvan Coe, that it is very desirable on the part of the Board 
of Missions of the Presbyterian Church, to form an establish- 
ment at this post, and also within the heart of the Chippeway 
country bordering on the Upper Mississippi, for the purposes 
of agriculture, schools, and the development of the light and 
truths of the Christian religion to the unhappy aborigines of 
this vast wilderness. 

"As my views fully accord in every material point with those 
of Messrs. Coe and Stevens, I can, in truth, assure the Board 
through you, sir, of my determination heartily to co-operate 
with them in any and every measure that may be calculated 
to insure success in the highly interesting and important 
objects to which the attention of the Society has been so 
happily directed. 

" I have recommended to the Government to appoint a special 
sub-agent to reside at Gull Lake, to superintend the general 



ARRIVAL OF S. W. AND G. H. POND. 



VII 



concerns of the most warlike and respectable portion of the 
Chippeways of the Mississippi and its tributary waters above 
Lake Pepin, thereby to lessen their visits to this Agency, it 
being desirable to prevent their coming in contact too often 
with their old enemies, the Sioux. 

" Should the Society form a missionary establishment on the 
waters of the St. Croix, some of which communicate with Rum 
River of the Mississippi, and a special agent or sub-agent, the 
influence of whom might be necessary to the more efficient 
operations of the missionary families there located, I have no 
doubt but that the Government would be willing to appoint 
one for the special duty, if requested by the Society, accom- 
panied by explanatory views on the subject. 

" As to an establishment for the Sioux of this Agency, it 
would be in the power of the Society to commence operations, 
without much expense, at the Falls of St. Anthony, where 
there is a good grist and saw-mill, with suitable buildings, at 
present going into decay for the want of occupants. I would 
cheerfully turn over my present infant colony of agriculturists, 
together with their implements and horses, etc., to such an 
establishment." 

It was not, however, till the year 1834, that any formal 
attempt was made to instruct them in the morality of the 
Bible. The Rev. Samuel W. Pond, who had been a layman 
and school teacher in Galena, Illinois, hearing accounts of the 
Dakotahs from Red River emigrants, became interested in 
their welfare, and wrote to his brother, Gideon H. Pond, then 
a young man in their native place in Connecticut, proposing 
that they should cast their lot with the Dakotahs, and try to 
do them good. 

The proposition was accepted, and in the spring of 1834, 
constrained only by the love of Christ, provided with neither 
brass, nor scrip, nor purse, he joined his brother at Galena, and 
embarking on board of a steamer, arrived at Fort Snelling in 



VIII HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 

May. They stated their plans to Mr. Taliaferro, the Dakotah 
Agent, and were treated with kindness by him and Major Bliss, 
the commander of the Fort. Without aid or eneouragement 
from any missionary society, they proceeded to the east shore 
of Lake Calhoun, on the banks of which and Lake Harriet 
dwelt small bands of Dakotahs, and with their own hands 
erected a rude cabin on the site of a building in more recent 
times occupied by Charles Musou. 

About this period, a native of South Carolina, a graduate of 
Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, the Rev. T. S. Williamson. 
M.D., who previous to his ordination had been a respectable 
physician in Ohio, was appointed by the American Board of 
Commissioners of Foreign Missions to visit the Dakotahs, with 
the view of ascertaining what could be done to introduce 
Christian instruction. Having made inquiries at Prairie du 
Chien and Fort Snelling, he reported the field was favorable. 

The Presbyterian and Congregational Churches, through 
their joint Missionary Society, appointed the following persons 
to labor in Minnesota : Rev. Thomas S. Williamson, M.D., 
missionary and physician ; Rev. J. D. Stevens, missionary ; 
Alexander Huggins, farmer ; and their wives ; Miss Sarah 
Page, and Lucy Stevens, teachers ; who were prevented during 
the year 1834, by the state of navigation, from entering upon 
their work. 

During the winter of 1834-35, a pious officer of the army 
exercised a good influence on his fellow officers and soldiers 
under their command. In the absence of a chaplain or ordained 
minister, he, like General Havelockof the British army in India, 
was accustomed not only to drill the soldiers, but to meet them 
in his own quarters, and reason with them "of righteousness, 
temperance and judgment to come." 

In the month of May, 1835, Dr. Williamson and mission 
band arrived at Fort Snelling, and were hospitably received by 
the officers of the garrison, the Indian Agent, and Mr. Sibley, 



CHURCH AT FORT SNELLING. 



IX 



then a young man, who had recently become Agent of the 
Fur Company, at Mendota. 

On the 27th of the month Dr. Williamson was called upon 
to unite in marriage Lt. Edmund A. Ogden, a young officer, 
to Eliza Edna, daughter of Capt. Gustavus A. Loomis, the 
first ceremony of the kind performed by a clergyman north of 
Prairie du Chien. 

It was not until May, 1838, that Rev. E. G. Gear, of the 
Episcopal branch of the Church, became post Chaplain. 

On the nth of June, in the quarters at the Fort occupied by 
Dr. Williamson, a meeting was held to organize a church. 
Upon inquiry it was found that there were twenty-two persons 
ready to unite in an organization, and six of these, one of whom 
was the young Lieutenant Ogden, had never been communi- 
cants. 

Four elders were elected, among whom were Capt. Gustavus 
Loomis and Samuel W. Pond. The next day, a lecture pre- 
paratory to administering the communion, was delivered, and 
on Sunday the 14th, the first organized church in the Valley of 
the Upper Mississippi assembled for the first time in one of 
the Company rooms of the Fort. The services in the morning 
were conducted by Dr. Williamson. After prayer, singing and 
reading of the Holy Scriptures, those proposing to become 
communicants for the first time, came forward as their names 
were called, and made profession of their faith. A sermon was 
then preached by Dr. Williamson, and after prayer by Mr. 
Stevens, the four elders were ordained. The afternoon service 
commenced at 2 o'clock. The sermon of Mr. Stevens was 
was upon a most appropriate text, 1st Peter, ii. 25; " For ye 
were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the 
Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." 

After the discourse the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was 
administered. 



X HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 

M 

At a meeting of the Session on the 31st of July, Rev. 
J. D. Stevens, missionary, was invited to preach to the church 
"so long as the duties of his mission will permit, and also to 
preside at all the meetings of the Session." Captain Gustavus 
Loomis was elected Stated Clerk of the Session, and they 
resolved to observe the monthly concert of prayer on the first 
Monday of each month, for the conversion of the world. 

Two points were selected by the missionaries as proper 
spheres of labor. Mr. Stevens and family proceeded to Lake 
Harriet, and Dr. Williamson and family, in June, 1835, pro- 
ceeded to Lac-qui-Parle. 

Dr. Williamson came down from Lac-qui-Parle on a visit to 
the Fort, on the 11th of June, 1836, and after preaching on 
the next Sunday, gave notice that on the following Sunday he 
would administer the communion. The preparatory lecture 
was delivered on Friday, the 17th, before the church convened 
at the Mission House, on Lake Harriet, and on the 19th the 
Lord's Supper was observed. At a meeting of the Session, 
on the 28th of October, it was . resolved that Divine Service 
should hereafter be held at the Mission House, Lake Harriet, 
every Sunday morning, and in the Fort, at 6 o'clock, Sunday 
evening. 

On the 30th of December there was an examination of the 
Mission School at Lake Harriet. The examiners were Major 
Taliaferro and Henry H. Sibley, and among the spectators 
were Major Loomis, Lt. Ogden, and their families, and Sur- 
geon Emerson, whose servant was then, the since historic slave 
Dred Scott, whose wife had been owned by Agent Taliaferro. 

On the 15th of September, 1836, a Presbyterian Church was 
organized at Lac-qui-Parle, a branch of that in and near Fort 
Snelling, and Joseph Renville, a mixed blood of great influ- 
ence, became a communicant. He had been trained in Canada 
by a Roman Catholic priest, but claimed the right of private 
judgment. Before he became acquainted with the missionaries, 



AN OLD BIBLE. 



XI 



he sent for a Bible in the French language, and requested those 
connected with him in the fur trade also to procure a clerk for 
him who would be able to read it. This Bible, among the 
first ones brought to Minnesota, was valuable for its antiquity. 
It was printed at Geneva, in 1588, and had a Latin preface by- 
John Calvin. In 1853 I requested the missionaries to procure 
•this valuable book for the Minnesota Historical Society. One 
of the sons of Mr. Renville brought it to the mission house at 
Lac-qui-Parle, but before it could be forwarded the mission 
house and contents were all destroyed by fire. Mr. Renville's 
wife was the first pure Dakotah of whom we have any record 
that ever joined the Church of Christ. In 1841 Renville was 
elected Elder. This church has never become extinct, although 
its members have been necessarily nomadic. After the treaty 
of Traverse des Sioux, it was removed to Hazlewood. Driveri 
from thence by the outbreak of 1862, it has became the parent 
of other churches, over one of which John Renville, a descen- 
dant of the elder at Lac-qui-Parle, is the pastor. 

About the time that Renville was ordained an elder in the 
church, Father Ravoux, recently from France, a sincere and 
earnest priest of the Church of Rome, visited Lac-qui-Parle. 
He came to Mendota in the autumn of 1841, and after a brief 
sojourn with Father Galtier, who had erected St. Paul's Chapel, 
which has given the name of St. Paul to the capital of Minne- 
sota, he ascended the Minnesota River, and visited Lac-qui- 
Parle. 

Bishop Loras, of Dubuque, wrote the next year of his visit 
as follows : "Our young missionary, Mr. Ravoux, passed the 
winter on the banks of Lac-qui-Parle, without any other sup- 
port than Providence, without any other means of conversion 
than a burning zeal, he has wrought in the space of six months 
a happy revolution among the Sioux. From the time of his 
arrival he has been occupied night and day in the study of 
their language. * * * * When he instructs the savages, 



XII 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



he speaks to them with so much fire whilst showing them a 
large copper crucifix which he carries on his breast, that he 
makes the strongest impression upon them." 

The impression, however, was evanescent, and he soon re- 
tired from the field, and no more efforts were made in this di- 
rection by the Church of Rome. The young Mr. Ravoux is 
now the highly respected Vicar of the Roman Catholic Diocese 
of Minnesota, and justly esteemed for his simplicity and un- 
obtrusiveness. 

During the year 1837, Mr. G. H. Pond offered his services as 
farmer and teacher at Lac-qui-Parle, and Mr. S. W. Pond 
became a teacher in the mission at Lake Harriet. The mission 
band was also greatly strengthened this year by the arrival of 
Rev. Stephen R. Riggs, a graduate of Jefferson College, Pa., 
and his wife. Mr. Riggs soon proceeded to Lac-qui-Parle, 
and was there associated with Dr. Williamson. 

In the year 1838 a circumstance occurred which ultimately 
led to the dispersion of the Dakotahs at Lake Harriet, and a 
removal of the mission. On the 2d of August, Hole-in-the- 
Day, an Ojibway chief, who had killed thirteen of the Lac-qui- 
Parle Dakotahs, visited Fort Snelling with a few associates, to 
the regret of the officer in command, Major Plympton. The 
next evening Mr. Samuel W. Pond met Agent Taliaferro at 
Lake Harriet, and told him that a number of Indians from 
Mud Lake had gone to Baker's trading house, near the Fort, 
to attack the Ojibways. The Agent hastened to the spot, and 
arrived just as the first gun was fired by the Dakotahs, killing 
one of the Ojibways. A Red Lake Ojibway in return shot the 
murderer just as he was scalping his victim. The commanding 
officer of the Fort as soon as possible brought the Ojibways 
within its walls. On the evening of the 6th the Ojibways were 
ferried across the river and ordered to go home immediately. 
On the 29th of June, 1839, Hole-in-the-Day again visited the 
Fort with hundreds of Ojibways, and on the 1st of July they 



LAKE HARRIET ABANDONED. 



XIII 



met the Dakotahs at the Falls of St. Anthony, and after smok- 
ing the pipe of peace, the majority of the Ojibways proceeded 
homeward ; but some of the Pillager band passing over to 
Lake Harriet, secreted themselves until after sunrise on July 
2d, when they surprised Meekah, a Dakotah on his way to 
hunt, and scalped him. 

Rev. J. D. Stevens hurried to the Fort with the intelligence. 
Immediately one hundred and fifty Dakotahs were on the war 
path, panting for vengeance, and hurrying after the Ojibways, 
who had ascended the Mississippi ; and the next day there was 
a fight at Rum River, and ninety of the latter were killed. 
Another party also went across the country to St. Croix river, 
and overtook a band of Ojibways in the ravine where the peni- 
tentiary at Stillwater stands, and killed twenty-one and wounded 
twenty-nine. After this the Dakotahs were afraid to live at 
Lake Harriet, and soon abandoned the place, and encamped 
on the Minnesota river near Fort Snelling. The missionaries 
also removed to Baker's trading post, between the Fort and 
Minnehaha. 

At the commencement of 1841 there was at Lac-qui-Parle, 
Rev. Thos. S. Williamson and wife, Rev. S. R. Riggs and wife, 
Alexander G. Huggins, Farmer, and wife ; Fanny Huggins, 
Teacher. At Fort Snelling was Rev. Samuel W. Pond and 
wife, and Gideon H. Pond and wife. At both stations the 
Dakotah language was diligently studied. Rev. S. W. Pond 
had prepared a dictionary of three thousand words and also a 
small grammar. The Rev. S. R. Riggs was also engaged in 
translating the Scriptures. In a letter dated February 24, 1 841, 
he writes, " Last summer, after returning from Fort Snelling, 
I spent five weeks in copying again the Sioux vocabulary 
which we have collected and arranged at this station. It con- 
tained then about 5500 words, not including the various forms 
of the verbs. Since that time the words collected by Dr. 
Williamson and myself, have, I presume, increased the number 



XIV 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



to six thousand. ***** In this connection I may 
mention that during the winter of 1839-40, Mrs. Riggs, with 
some assistance, wrote an English and Sioux vocabulary con- 
taining about three thousand words. This one of Mr. Ren- 
ville's sons and three of his daughters are engaged in copying. 
In committing the grammatical principles of the language to 
writing, we have done something at this station, but more has 
been done by Mr. S. W. Pond." 

Steadily the number of Indian missionaries increased in Min- 
nesota, and in 1851, when the lands of the Dakotahs west of 
the Mississippi were ceded to the whites, they were disposed as 
follows : 

Lac-qui-parle, Rev. S. R. Riggs, Rev. M. N. Adams, Mission- 
aries ; Jonas Pettijohn, Mrs. Fanny Pettijohn, Mrs. Mary Ann 
Riggs, Mrs. Mary A. M.Adams, Miss Sarah Rankin, Assistants. 

Traverse des Sioux, Rev. Robert Hopkins, Missionary ; Mrs. 
Agnes Hopkins, Alexander G. Huggins, Mrs. Lydia P. Hug- 
gins, Assistants, 

Shakpay, Rev. Samuel W. Pond, Missionary ; Mrs. Sarah 
P. Pond, Assistant. 

Kaposia, Rev. Thos. Williamson, M.D., Missionary and Phys- 
ician ; Mrs. Margaret P. Williamson, Miss Jane S. Williamson, 
Assistants. 

Red Wing, Rev. John F. Aiton, Rev. Joseph W. Hancock, 
Missionaries ; Mrs. Nancy H. Aiton, Mrs. Hancock, Assistants. 

On July 4th, 185 1, while a treaty was in progress with the 
Indians at Traverse des Sioux, the resident missionary, Rev. 
Robert Hopkins, was drowned while bathing. 

The mission station at Kaposia was established in 1846, in 
consequence of a brawl occasioned by whisky purchased of 
some low fellows who lived in rude huts around the log chapel 
of St. Paul. In a drunken revel the Kaposia chief had been 
shot in the arm, and alarmed at the deterioration produced by 
intoxicating liquor, he went to Mr. Bruce, the Indian Agent, 



FIRST SCHOOL AT ST. PAUL. 



XV 



at Fort Snelling, and asked that a school might be established 
in his band. At the request of the Agent, in November Dr. 
Williamson came down from Lac-qui-Parle, and became a resi- 
dent at Little Crow's village. Although a missionary among 
the Dakotahs, he watched with interest the development of 
the obscure hamlet of Saint Paul, and determined to have a 
School established there. To obtain a teacher, he wrote the 
following letter in 1847 to tne President of the National Edu- 
cation Society : 

" My present residence is on the utmost verge of civilization, 
I in the northwestern part of the United States, within a few 
; miles of the principal village of white men in the territory that 
we suppose will bear the name of Minnesota, which some would 
render 'clear water', though strictly it signifies slightly turbid 
or whitish water. 

" The village referred to has grown up in a few years in a 
romantic situation on a high bluff of the Mississippi, and has 
been baptized by the Roman Catholics, by the name of St. 
Paul. They have erected in it a small chapel, and constitute 
much the larger portion ot the inhabitants. The Dakotahs 
call it Im-ni-ja-ska (white rock), from the color of the sandstone 

I which forms the bluff on which the village stands. This village 
has five stores, as they call them, at all of which intoxicating 
drinks constitute a part, of what they sell. I would suppose 
the village contains a dozen or twenty families living near 
enough to send to school. Since I came to this neighborhood 

j I have had frequent occasion to visit the village, and have been 
grieved to see so many children growing up entirely ignorant 
of God, and unable to read his word, with no one to teach 
them. Unless your Society can send them a teacher, there 
seems to be little prospect of their having one for several years. 
A few days since I went to the place for the purpose of making 
inquiries in reference to the prospect of a school. I visited 
seven families, In which there were twenty-three children of 



XVI 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



proper age to attend school, and was told of five more in which 
were thirteen more that it is supposed might attend, making 
thirty-six in twelve families. I suppose more than half of the 
parents of these children are unable to read themselves, and 
care but little about having their children taught. Possibly 
the priest might deter some from attending, who might other- 
wise be able and willing. 

u I suppose a good female teacher can do more to promote 
the cause of education and true religion than a man. The 
natural politeness of the French (who constitute more than 
half the population) would cause them to be kind and court- 
eous to a female, even though the priest should seek to cause 
opposition. I suppose she might have twelve or fifteen scholars 
to begin with, and if she should have a good talent of winning 
the affections of children (and one who has not should not 
come), after a few months she would have as many as she could 
attend to. 

" One woman told me she had four children she wished to 
send to school, and that she would give boarding and a room 
in her house to a good female teacher, for the tuition of her 
children. 

l "A teacher for this place should love the Saviour, and for 
his sake should be willing to forego, not only many of the reli- 
gious privileges and elegancies of New England towns, but 
some of the neatness also. She should be entirely free from 
prejudice on account of color, for among her scholars she might 
find not only English, French and Swiss, but Sioux and Chip- 
pewas, with some claiming kindred with the African stock. 

" A teacher coming should bring books with her sufficient to 
begin a school, as there is no book-store within three hundred 
miles." 

In answer to his wish, Miss Harriet E. Bishop visited the 
mission house at Kaposia, and was introduced by him to the 
citizens of St. Paul as their first school teacher. 



PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AT ST. PAUL. XVII 

In October, 1848, a native of the City of Philadelphia, who 
after his ordination preached among the miners in the lead 
mines, about fifteen miles from Galena, wrote to Rev. A. Kent, 
the senior member of the Galena Presbytery : "I have been 
informed that you intend to go to Minnesota for the purpose 
of organizing a church in Stillwater, if the way be open. I do 
hot know what your arrangements may be about the supply of 
that distant field, but if you can fill my present post, I am 
ready to go as the pioneer in that region. My wife and I are 
contented enough here, but it is almost too civilized. The 
latter fact would make it desirable to some, that would not like 
to go so far from the luxuries and comforts of the East. If, 
then, you are of the opinion that I and mine are the persons 
suited for a new field, I am at your disposal." 

The Rev. Mr. Kent made the proposed visit, but the time 
did not seem favorable for a church organization at Stillwater, 
and it was postponed. Before the openining of navigation, 
next spring, the Territory of Minnesota had been created by 
Congress, and St. Paul designated as its capital. 

The Presbytery of Galena, at a meeting held about the 1st 
of April, resolved "that the Rev. E. D. Neill visit Minnesota 
in company with Rev. A. Kent, and that if the field please 
him, he be released from his charge at Elizabeth, and be per- 
mitted to labor in Minnesota." 

In accordance with this resolution, Rev. Mr. Neill came to 
St. Paul in April. At that time, and until after the treaty of 
Traverse des Sioux, there were Indian villages and mission 
stations at Kaposia and Red Wing, below St. Paul, and at. 
Oak Grove and Shakpay, on the Minnesota River, within a 
half days' ride. 

Mr. Neill's first sermon was preached in a little school house 
erected for the school that had been projected by Dr. William- 
son, and which Miss Bishop had taught, and his text was "How 



XVIII 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



is it that thou being a Jew, askest drink of me which am a 
woman of Samaria?" — John iv. 9. 

The Rev. B. F. Hoyt, a local Methodist preacher, was the 
only religious teacher in the place. 

In May Mr. Neill went to Philadelphia, as Commissioner of 
Galena Presbytery to the General Assembly of the Presbyte- 
rian Church, and soon after his return commenced the erection 
of the first Protestant Church edifice in the white settlements 
of Minnesota. It was a small frame building situated on 
Washington Street, and was completed about the last of 
August. The funds for the building were given by a few of 
his relatives and personal friends in the city of Philadelphia. 
The following May it was destroyed by fire. 

At the first Thursday evening religious lecture in this chapel, 
with no previous understanding, there were present the Rev. 
W. T. Boutwell, the first missionary to the Ojibways of the 
Mississippi, and chaplain of the expedition to the sources of 
the Mississippi, in 1832, and the Rev. Gideon H. Pond, who 
with his brother, as we have seen, was the first to attempt to 
do good to the Dakotahs near Fort Snelling. 

A short period before Mr. Neill came to Saint Paul, Lieut. 
Col. Gustavus Loomis was ordered to Fort Snelling as com- 
manding officer, after an absence of several years. The first 
Stated Clerk of the Session of the Church organized at Fort 
Snelling in 1835, his love for the synagogue had not dimin- 
ished in 1849, an d he extended to the young minister of St. 
Paul a cordial welcome. 

In July, 1849, Mr. Neill received the following note from 
Fort Snelling : 

" The Colonel commanding this garrison, and several citizens, 
amongst whom are Major Murphy, Mr. Prescott and others, 
respectfully invite, and hope it will be convenient for you to 
preach to us occasionally, if it would not interfere with other 



SAINT PAUL AND STILLWATER CHURCHES. XIX 



appointments. We will endeavor to defray all expenses and 
add our mite towards supporting the Gospel." 

It was customary for Mr. Neill to preach at St. Paul in the 
morning, and at St. Anthony or Fort Snelling in the afternoon 
of Sunday. During the first six months the only contributions 
made for the support of the gospel were from Fort Snelling. 
Col. Loomis gave ten dollars, Philander Prescott ten dollars 
and John H. Stevens five dollars. 

On the 4th of October, Rev. J. C. Whitney, a graduate of 
Union Theological Seminary, arrived at Stillwater, and took 
charge of the St. Croix valley. 

A meeting of the male professors of religion attending the 
preaching of Mr. Neill in St. Paul, was held on the evening of 
November 26th, 1849. 

Mr. Neill being present, he was asked to state his denomina- 
tional preferences. He declined, alleging as a reason that he 
was commissioned by a Board composed of two sister denomi- 
nations, simply "to preach the gospel," and that he did not 
wish to bias them by stating his ecclesiastical connection, as he 
was ready to labor for their welfare, whatever form, of church 
government they might choose. After prayer it was resolved 
unanimously, " That we form ourselves into a church, under 
the name of ' The First Presbyterian Church of St. Paul/ " 

The second church organized was at Stillwater. The Rev. 
J. C. Whitney being at that time a licentiate, invited Rev. W. 
T. Boutwell, a Congregational minister and formerly mission- 
ary of the A. B. C. F. M. among the Ojibways, and Rev. E. D 
Neill, to assist him in organizing a church. The meeting was 
held on the afternoon of December 8th, 1849. At the sugges- 
tion of Rev. W. T. Boutwell it was unanimously voted that the 
church be called " The First Presbyterian Church of Stillwater." 

The first communion in the First Presbyterian Church at 
St. Paul was on the first Sunday of January in 1850. Dr. 



XX 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



Williamson of Kaposia mission, was present, and several Indian 
converts partook of the sacrament. 

During the last week in December, the Rev. Dr. Williamson 
of Kaposia, and Rev. Gideon H. Pond of Oak Grove, revived 
the old church at Fort Snelling, and Colonel G. Loomis and 
P. Prescott were chosen Elders, and Rev. G. H. Pond elected 
Pastor ; and it was decided hereafter that it should be called 
the " Oak Grove Church." 

After the small wooden church edifice in St. Paul was 
destroyed by fire, Mr. Neill preached in an unplastered ware- 
room built of rude boards, that stood at the corner of Wapa- 
shah street, where Cathcart & Co.'s store is, and in this rude 
building Fredrika Bremer the Swedish authoress, once wor- 
shipped with the congregation, while on the same Sunday, Dr. 
Williamson was preaching to some Indians in a log house then 
occupied by the late Joseph R. Brown, which stood opposite, 
on the site of Ingersoll's block of stores. 

During the winter of 1849-50, Mr. Neill preached every other 
Sunday afternoon at the Falls of Saint Anthony, and at that 
time his congregation there, was larger than at Saint Paul. 
The building in which the service was held, was the first district 
school house, and still stands not far from the new Methodist 
Church on University Avenue. 

In July, 1850, Rev. W. T. Wheeler, a member of the Wabash 
Association of Congregational ministers, and formerly mission- 
ary of the A. B. C. F. M., on the Gaboon river, in Africa, com- 
menced preaching there, by Mr. Neill's request. His congre- 
gation was interested in him, and a prayer-meeting sustained. 
Without any extraneous influence, he thought it proper to 
form a church. His preferences were for the Congregational 
polity, but about three-fourths of the members had letters 
from or were connected with Presbyterian churches, and with- 
out a thought about the matter, it was unanimously resolved 



CHURCH AT ST. ANTHONY'S FALLS. 



XXI 



that the church be called " The First Presbyterian Church of 
Saint Anthony." 

After a brief period the Rev. Charles Seccombe succeeded 
Mr. Wheeler, and in time succeeded in persuading the con- 
gregation to drop the name of Presbyterian, and it is now- 
known as the Congregational Society of Minneapolis, E. D. 

The Dakotah missionaries before the formation of white 
settlements, were united in an independent Dakotah Presby- 
tery, the present Dakotah Presbytery of the Synod. 

In pursuance of a resolution of the Synod of Peoria, the 
" Presbytery of Minnesota" comprising the churches in the 
white settlements, was organized on November 1st, 1850. As 
long as the entire region between the Mississippi and Missouri 
was occupied by the Indians, the extension of Presbyterial 
limits was not practicable. 

In time, Rev. G. H. Pond of Oak Grove, who had concluded 
to remain at the old mission station and preach to the whites, 
who were beginning to make claims upon the recently ceded 
lands in his vicinity, was transferred from the Indian or Dako- 
tah Presbytery to the Presbytery of Minnesota. 

In October, 185 1, the Rev. J. G. RiheldafTer, the present 
Moderator of the Synod, and who occupies the pulpit with me 
to-night, arrived in Saint Paul, and in February, 1852, organ- 
ized the Second Presbyterian Church in that city, now desig- 
nated as the " Central." 

At the close of the summer of 1853, the roll of Minnesota 

Presbytery was — 

Ministers. Churches. Members. 
Edw. D. Neill, Saint Paul 35 



Rev. G. H. Pond, in the summer of 1852 delivered the first 
sermon, at the house of Mr. John H. Stevens, to the white 
settlers on the west side of the Falls of Saint Anthony, and 



Jos. C. Whitney, . 
John C. Sherwin. 
Gideon H, Pond, 



.Stillwater. . . 
La Crosse. . . 
Oak Grove. , 

Kaposia 

Minneapolis 



35 
20 



13 
4 
15 



XXII 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



continued to watch over the people there for many months, 
besides attending to his duties at Oak Grove. On the 22d of 
May, 1853, after a sermon by Mr. Pond, the First Presbyterian 
Church of Minneapolis was organized, the first Christian church 
in the white settlements of Minnesota west of the Mississippi. 
On the 2d of July the Presbytery of Minnesota convened in 
Minneapolis, and received the church under its care. Among 
the corresponding members were Rev. A. G. Chester, D. D., of 
Buffalo. Shortly after his return to his home, he wrote as 
follows : " My dear Neill — We have shipped the bell for Min- 
neapolis, and directed it to you. * * * * * It is a very 
fine one, weighing 511 pounds, and has all the appurtenances. 
The donor is the Hon. James Wadsworth of this city. I wish 
they would give their place his name. I think it would be 
very appropriate, and a very good name. It might be pro- 
ductive. " 

During the summer of 1853, the brick church erected in 1850, 
for the First Presbyterian Church of St. Paul, was enlarged by 
the addition of forty pews. In February, 1854, Rev. Edward 
D. Neill was unanimously called to be pastor, but declined for 
several reasons, among others the fact that he had a few weeks 
before, written to M. W. Baldwin, of Philadelphia, after whom 
the Baldwin School,* incorporated in 1853, had been named, 
proposing to enlarge its sphere of operations, and to devote 
his life to the building up of a College in the Valley of the 
Upper Mississippi. 

Mr. Neill, however, continued to preach for the church until 
1855, when the Rev. J. R. Barnes supplied the pulpit until the 
spring of 1856. During the summer of that year, the Rev. 
John Mattocks was called to the pastorate. In 1854, the Rev. 
James Thomson of Indiana, began to preach at Mahkahto, and 
united with the Presbytery of Minnesota. 

*The Baldwin School at first largely consisted of girls. The whole number 
of pupils enrolled, until January, 1854, was 7 r > anc * °f these only 28 were boys. 
After a brief period it seemed expedient to organize a separate department 



PROJECTED COLLEGE XXIII 

Rev. Henry M. Nichols also united with the Presbytery, and 
became pastor at Stillwater, in the place of Rev. J. C. Whitney, 
who had been installed over the church at Minneapolis. 

In the spring of 1855, at a meeting of the friends of the 
projected College for Minnesota, held in the city of Philadel- 
phia, M. W. Baldwin being in the chair, and among others 
present, the Rev. Albert Barnes, and Rev. Thomas Brainerd, 
D. D., the Rev. Edward D. Neill was elected President. During 
the summer an edifice for the Grammar School of the College 
was commenced at Saint Paul, opposite the residence of W. L. 
Banning. 

The duties of Mr. Neill as President elect of the College not 
interfering with his preaching, and the district in which the 
academic building was situated being remote from any church 
edifice, the following circular was issued : 

" The Presbyterian Mission that was commenced in April, 
1849, an d discontinued in consequence of the formation of the 

for the boys, as a nucleus for a College. In a letter from the founder to Mr. 
Baldwin, he says: " Already, you will perceive by looking at the Catalogue, 
that there are quite a number of boys attached to the girls' school. Now 
there must be a College in this portion of the Mississippi Valley. The pic- 
turesqueness of the scenery will make it a classic spot for students. " For 
the sum of $5,000 a building can be erected which would serve for the pur- 
pose of preparatory grammar school, a chapel on Sunday, and a lecture room 
during winter nights, to which young men may be attracted from the saloons 
and gambling establishments. I propose that there shall be a young man to 
act as tutor to the grammar school, and one College professor, who shall hear 
recitations, lecture during winter evenings, and preach in the chapel. * * * 
I propose the institution, comprising the classical and scientific departments 
of the Baldwin School, shall be called Calvary College. I also propose to 
resign my position as minister of the First Church, and hold the position of 
Professor of English Literature and History in the Baldwin or Calvary 
College." 

The plan was approved by Mr. Baldwin, and also by the founder's old 
pastor, the Rev. Albert Barnes. In deference to the Puritan prejudice 
against the naming of institutions after localities associated with the life of 
Jesus, the male department of the Baldwin School was incorporated as the 
"College of Saint Paul," instead of Calvary. The development of the College 
was impeded by the financial revulsion of 1857, and then again by the breaking 
out of the rebellion in 1861. 

In 1864, by an Act of the Legislature, the two institutions were consoli- 
dated, with a provision that the Preparatory Classical Department should be 
known as the "Baldwin School." This school was re-opened at St. Anthony's 
Falls in 1872, and preliminary steps have been taken to make it the prepara- 
tory department of" Macalester College, of which Mr. Neill is the President. 



XXIV 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



First Presbyterian Church on November 26th, of the same 
year, will be resumed by the Rev. Edward D. Neill. As the 
only part of the city entirely destitute of church privileges, is 
that beyond Eagle street, service will be held every Sunday 
afternoon at fifteen minutes after 3 o'clock, in the lower room 
of the district school house on Walnut street, commencing 
November 25, 1855." 

The congregation from the first was unexpectedly large, and 
during the last week in December a church was organized. 
On the 23d of December, Mr. Neill preached upon the Centu- 
rion who built a synagogue, and at the close made the follow- 
ing allusion to Joseph Wakefield, who left a legacy of $500 for 
church extension, which was used in purchasing a building site 
for the new enterprise. 

" Eighteen months ago I visited the office of a young man 
then residing here, and was pained to see on his table the pre- 
tended revelations of the Poughkeepsie seer, Davis, in which 
false philosophy he expressed some interest. 

" A few days after, he came and sat with me under the grove 
of oaks now within the enclosure of my present residence. 
Looking down at the buildings which were beginning to dot 
the plateau of upper St. Paul, he remarked that it would soon 
be filled with a busy population. In reply I said that I hoped 
at no distant day to see a church spire adorn the loveliest plain 
of the city." 

" In a few months his health began to fail, and he returned 
to his native State, Rhode Island. Gradually he approached 
the grave. At first he sought relief from weariness and despond- 
ency by the perusal of exciting fictitious literature, but at 
length, by the persuasion of a Christian brother, he commenced 
to read the New Testament, and soon saw its beauty and sim- 
plicity and sublimity, and unreservedly put his trust in Jesus, 
and exercised the faith of the Centurion. 



HOUSE OF HOPE. 



XXV 



" As he approached the dark valley he expressed the wish 
that $500 might be placed in my hands for church extension. 
The time has come to use it, and it is appropriate that about 
the first anniversary of his death we should organize another 
church." 

The little band that assembled to organize the church, agreed 
that it should be called the " House of Hope," the name given 
by the Dutch Captain De Vries to the locality now known as 
Hartford. 

The first English church there, was formed by the eminent 
Hooker who resigned his first charge in Massachusetts, and 
went to Connecticut, to use his own language, " In view of the 
increasing emigration, for whose sake he deemed it wise to 
make more extensive room." 

To make more extensive room for the increasing population 
of St. Paul was the motive that led to the formation of this 
church, and its first membership, with one exception, was com- 
posed of those who had never been connected with any church 
in that city. 

In May, 1857, the Presbytery ot Minnesota numbered ten 
ministers, distributed as follows : 

Ministers. Churches. Members. 

Edward D. Neill, House of Hope 17 

Joseph C. Whitney Minneapolis 55 

Gideon H. Pond, Oak Grove 22 

Henry M. Nichols, Stillwater, 1st .22 

Charles S. LeDuc Hastings 20 

John Mattocks, St. Paul, 1st --53 

Daniel Ames, Winona 39 

J. W. Hancock, Red Wing 30 

W. A. McCorkle, Superior 5 

In the spring of 1857, tne Westminster Church, of Minne- 
apolis, was organized in connection with what was then the 
other branch of the Presbyterian Church. The next year the 
Presbytery of Blue Earth was formed, to which the Rev. James 
Thomson* of Mahkahto, was transferred. 

♦Rev. James Thompson died at Mankato the day after this discourse was delivered. 



XXVI HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 

At a meeting of the General Assembly ot the Presbyterian 
Church held' in Chicago in May, 1858, the following action was 
taken relative to the erection of the Synod of Minnesota : 

"Resolved, 1. That the Presbyteries of Blue Earth and Minnesota be 
directed to meet at Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the First Presbyterian Church, 
on the second Wednesday of September, 1858, at 7 o'clock p. m„ with the | 
view of uniting, if the way be prepared, with the Presbytery of Dakota, in 
the organization of a Synod. 

" Resolved, 2. That the Stated Clerk of the Assembly address a letter to 
the Presbytery of Dakota, inviting them to meet with the Presbyteries of 
Blue Earth and Minnesota, at the above time, and if the way be prepared, to 
be incorporated with them in a Synod under the care of the General Assembly. 

" Resolved, 3. That in the event of compliance with this invitation by the 
Presbytery of Dakota, the Presbyteries of Blue Earth, Minnesota and 
Dakota, shall then and there become a Synod under the name of the Synod of 
Minnesota, and that the Rev. Thomas Williamson, or in case of his absence, 
the oldest minister present, shall preach a sermon, and preside until a new 
Moderator be chosen." 

In accordance with these resolutions the three Presbyteries 
met at the time and place specified, and there organized the 
Synod of Minnesota, to which name the body addressed by me 
to-night, has succeeded. 

At the formation of the Synod the following ministers were 
present : 

Presbytery of Dakota — Thomas S. Williamson, Samuel W. 
Pond, and Moses Adams. Absent, Stephen R. Riggs, John F. 
Aiton. 

Presbytery of Minnesota — Edward D. Neill, Joseph C. Whit- 
ney, Gideon H. Pond, Henry M. Nichols, Charles S. Le Due, 
John Mattocks, and J. W. Hancock. Absent, Marcus Hicks 
and Francis A. Griswold. 

Presbytery of Blue Earth — Samuel G. Lowry, James Thom- 
son, and Jacob E. Conrad. Absent, Gardiner K. Clark, Daniel 
Ames, Edward D. Holt, and Theophilus Lowry. 

More remains to be said of the Early Days of Presbyterian- 
ism in Minnesota, which will be unfolded by my colleague, in 
his historical discourse, appointed to be delivered at the next 
session of the Synod. 

How grateful ought we to be, that so many of those who laid 
the foundations of our branch of the Church in Minnesota, are 



GRATIFYING PROGRESS. 



XXVII 



still alive. As the roll of the Synod was called at the opening 
of this session, Pond, Williamson, Riggs, Adams, Hancock, of 
the old Dakotah Mission, answered to their names. While for 
years they sowed in tears, they now reap in joy, Their own 
children, notwithstanding they were born amid savages, have 
been educated, and three have succeeded their fathers as 
preachers of glad tidings to the Dakotahs. 

The growth of our branch of Zion is encouraging. In the 
year 1858, after more than twenty years hard labor, but eighty 
persons of Dakotah blood had united with .the Church of 
Christ, but since the troubles of 1862, about eight hundred of 
that tribe profess the religion of Jesus, and are connected 
with the Indian churches of Dakotah Presbytery. 

In 1858 there were not more than three or four hundred white 
persons enrolled, now there are over four thousand communi- 
cants in connection with the Synod. 

Let us not be cast down. Our mission is to please God, not 
to please men. We are to study the Word, and declare the 
whole counsel of God, and in time the fruit will surely appear. 




c 



5 7 82 








3* ^ 



- tern;* °„ ^ , c /W^>'. ° > *■ 



A. 





/X » 




Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: June 2006 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-2111 



